The present invention relates to an independent accessory in the form of an attache case for a motor vehicle or equivalent that provides passengers sitting in the back of the vehicle with a removable platform for eating, reading, writing and the like.
It is known that the backrests of the seats of certain types of vehicles contain, as original equipment, simple folding shelves, the use of which is limited. If such a shelf is to maintain a horizontal position when open, whatever the angle at which the backrest of the seat to which it is fitted is set, the shelf must be connected to rigid posts attached to the base of the seat. This requires a very specific and very heavy design of the seat itself, and is the reason why such shelves are generally only found in trains and aeroplanes.
However, there are documents describing devices more specifically designed for use in a motor vehicle. For example, document FR-A-2 529 061 reports a "supporting tray for various activities for passengers inside a vehicle". The tray possesses a height-adjustable leg arrangement, on the base of which the passenger places his or her feet in order to keep the device steady. This device provides a horizontal tray, or at any rate a tray parallel to the base of its leg arrangement. The device is not therefore fixed, and the user has an active and permanent role in keeping it steady. In the absence of a user tall enough to place his or her feet on the base, the device becomes quite unusable. It is, furthermore, very cumbersome.
Document GB-A-2 239 639 relates to a folding tray consisting of two plates that can be unfolded so that one is placed against the seat backrest. The structure is fixed rigidly to the posts of the headrest of the seat; consequently, the level of the tray is at the top of the backrest of the corresponding seat, which is not practical for use as a meal tray or writing surface. Moreover, its horizontality is not defined and the tray has to be locked manually into the use position by tightening a number of small wheels working by angular friction. The possibility that the wheels might be loosened by the vibrations of the vehicle is not envisaged. In addition the amount of time required for fitting and removal remains very long.
Document FR-A-2 707 570 discloses a "travel tray" which is fixed in place by means of the posts of a headrest. A fixing system allows the tray to adopt a vertical position or a horizontal position. The movable part of the tray may include parts intended for holding objects, such as a bottle. This device is fixed in a flexible way by means of the posts of the seat headrest. A strap is passed around the front of the seat in question in order to steady the device. The horizontality of the open tray is therefore defined only with respect to the angle of the backrest of the seat with the vertical, which means not only that the device is not interchangeable (because not adjustable), but also that the angle of the backrest cannot be modified by the person sitting on the seat to which the device is fitted.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,229 relates to a folding tray in which the horizontal distance (when the tray is opened) to the user can be adjusted for the convenience of the latter. To this end, the tray, when horizontal, can be slid approximately horizontally into or out of an approximately vertical frame. In addition, even though this tray is an added accessory, it is still more or less unremovable, or at any rate removable with great difficulty. Furthermore, the horizontality of the tray cannot be adjusted to take account of the inclination of the seat to which it is fixed.
Document GB-A-2 029 346 discloses, for its part, a conventional attache case which is fixed by rigid extensible arms to the top of the backrest of the seat in front, and likewise forms a meal tray container. The removability of the attache case is linked to the prior presence of the arms, which include a plurality of fixing screws making any manipulation complicated. Also, the horizontality of the tray cannot be adjusted to suit the inclination of the seat, because it is made horizontal only by means of a predetermined fixed convexity of the lid of the attache case.
Document DE-U-92 05 820 relates to a rustic removable tray that has no lid of any kind, and the horizontality of which is not guaranteed. No provision appears to be made for putting the tray in a vertical position, and it has to be removed completely before it can be folded.
It is an object of the present invention to obviate the various drawbacks mentioned above.
There are many other documents known in the field of meal trays. For example, documents U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,459 and FR-A-2 628 516, among others, disclose trays with wells normally used for in-flight meals and for fast food. Similarly, document U.S. Pat. No. 3,049,374 relates to a container device for a meal tray fixed to the front seat. This device, in more or less conventional use in aeroplanes, cannot be removed at all. Generally speaking, these trays are used in conjunction with the folding shelves mentioned earlier and their only purpose is to help with serving in a somewhat unstable environment.